Today is Arbor Day, a holiday pioneered by Nebraska’s J. Sterling Morton in 1872. Morton started the holiday to beautify Nebraska’s prairies, which naturally lacked trees. Morton recognized that trees would help Nebraska farmers create windbreaks and conserve soil, as well as make the state appear less desolate to investors and others passing through. Read More

Nebraska's 2014 legislative session adjourned Sine Die on April 17. During the short session, the Legislature reviewed hundreds of bills, many of them dealing with contentious issues like Medicaid expansion, prison reform and tax reform. Read More

Toxic stress in families with young children is rarely the product of a single cause, but a confluence of factors that contribute to a breakdown in familial bonding. The presence of outright abuse or neglect, domestic violence, substance abuse or depression in the family are, of course, obvious signs of that breakdown, and effectively undercut the parent-child bond as a crucial source of emotional stability for young children. Read More

As social and economic pressures facing families continue to mount, the incidence of stress as a chronic physiological condition is increasing. The effects of prolonged stress on individual adults are high enough—its relationship to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, suppressed immune function and other health issues is well documented. Read More

Challenges facing rural parents who lack higher education are affecting their children’s early development in language and other areas, said Dr. Lynne Vernon-Feagans last week at the annual CYFS Summit on Research in Early Childhood in Lincoln. Read More

April 6-12 is the Week of the Young Child, sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and Nebraska AEYC. “Early Years Are Learning Years” is the focus this year. Read More

Do you remember songs from your childhood? Does hearing a particular song evoke memories of people, events or places in your past? Dick Clark said music is the soundtrack of our lives, and just as music can have a powerful effect on us as adults, it can have an equally strong impact on the developing brains of young children. Read More